Coroner: Fort Collins man shot self before SWAT team entered home

Aug. 5, 2013

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A 59-year-old Fort Collins man recently sentenced to jail on a child abuse charge killed himself Friday, only hours before county SWAT team members entered his home to serve a warrant linked to the case.

Richard Alan Nelson died Friday afternoon of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Larimer County Deputy Coroner Steve Hanks said Monday.

Members of the SWAT team arrived at Nelson’s north Fort Collins home about 6 a.m. Saturday, entering the residence roughly three hours later to find Nelson already dead. No one else was in the home.

Not knowing Nelson was dead, SWAT officers broke windows in the home and fired a pepper-ball gun into it in an attempt to draw him out, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Schulz said. Readers in the area told the Coloradoan previously they heard multiple men yelling and “incessant” loudspeaker announcements asking Nelson to come out with his hands up.

Nelson pleaded guilty to felony child abuse May 28. His July 25 sentence from 8th Judicial District Judge Stephen Schapanski ordered him to serve 90 days in jail and to register as a sex offender for 15 years, court records show.

He had not registered prior to his death, Schulz said, and the warrant was for failure to comply with court orders.